The Problem Gambling Foundation is now trading as PGF Group, effective 16 October 2018.

The PGF Group is the umbrella brand for PGF Services (counselling and health promotion), Mapu Maia (Pacific counselling and public health service), and Asian Family Services (counselling, public health and the Asian Helpline).

Introducing PGF Services

We have launched PGF Services; the new name for our mainstream counselling and health promotion team. It is a subtle development of the Problem Gambling Foundation brand and one that enables us to distinguish our mainstream work from that of the Pacific and Asian services​.

It’s a simple change but we hope using the acronym for our name might help to remove some of the stigma associated with the words ‘problem gambling’. Most of our friends know us as PGF anyway. ​

Our Story

The Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand began as the Compulsive Gambling Society (CGS) in 1988 with funding from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board. The prominent psychiatrist Fraser McDonald helped three men who were experiencing problems with gambling establish the CGS because at that time there were no services available to work with gambling problems. CGS started out as a telephone service with the first national hotline of its type internationally commencing operations in 1992. As the need grew, services expanded to include face-to-face services and a second clinic was opened in Manurewa in 1993.

In 2001 The Problem Gambling Foundation succeeded the Compulsive Gambling Society, moving away from an addictions and medical-based philosophy to a public health approach.

PGF continues to grow and improve the range of services. The underlying philosophy of eliminating harm and the public health approach to problem gambling that started with the founding team, continues to underpin our work today.

Our Vision

The PGF Group believes that vulnerable individuals, families and communities should be protected and supported. Therefore, social justice is at the heart of the our objectives. The PGF Group believes that a just society is one where benefits and opportunities are equally accessible and equally shared and where all communities have the same opportunity and the same rights.Arising from this commitment, our vision for Aotearoa New Zealand is:

Families and communities are healthy and resilient in a just society

The vision intentionally focusses on families and communities because that social structure is the foundation of our society and key to individual health and wellbeing. The vision interprets health in the broadest sense – physical, spiritual, emotional, social and intellectual.

Our Mission

The mission focusses on what the PGF Group will do to play its part in achieving the vision. The mission focusses on families and communities. However, minimising gambling harm for individuals, families and communities will require work outside the gambling framework and for some communities it will start first with family support, information and advice. The mission is:

Enhancing the mana of individuals, families and communities: to be free from gambling harm